Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Features New Float and Balloon Designs, Along With Old Fan Favorites

Thanksgiving preparations are in full swing in the Big Apple, ahead of the 98th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
This year’s parade will feature 34 floats, and of those making their return is Tom Turkey, 1-2-3 Sesame Street, Ronald McDonald’s big red shoe car, Camp Snoopy, Santa’s Sleigh, and many more.
The Tom Turkey float is the longest-running in the parade’s history, and Sesame Street continues to make its mark after appearing 47 times along the parade route.
Commemorating the official start of the holiday season, the parade notoriously ends with Santa’s Sleigh, featuring Saint Nick himself on the largest float, which is 60 feet long and 22 feet wide.
Some new float faces include Dora’s Fantastical Rainforest, SpongeBob SquarePants Garage, and Wednesday’s Feast, which are all popular television and movie characters.
Among the 22 balloons in the lineup, six are making their debut, including Minnie Mouse, Gabby from “Gabby’s Dollhouse,” Marshall from “PAW Patrol,” and Spider-Man, who is making a notable return for the first time in over a decade.
A team of 50 people—costume designers, artists, sculptors, and carpenters—works year-round at the Macy’s Parade Studio in Moonachie, New Jersey, to design and build the featured floats and balloons.
The parade begins on West 77th Street and Central Park West and will make its way toward 34th Street, ending in front of Macy’s Herald Square flagship store.
The parade route lineup includes 28 performers, 28 clown crews, 11 marching bands, 11 performance groups, and seven “ balloonicles.”
Country music stars Dan + Shay, Walker Hayes, singers Idina Menzel, Jennifer Hudson, Rapper T-Pain, and others are slated to be among the performers.
Around 2 million in-person spectators are expected to attend, and about 10,000 marchers slated to participate from all across the nation, rain or shine.
Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day Parade, held 100 years ago in 1924, is the second oldest parade in the country. It has been held every year since, except during World War II.
Meanwhile, the parade will air on NBC starting at 8:30 a.m. ET, with an encore presentation at 2:00 p.m.